On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 12:56:12 -0500, rhys wrote:

On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 10:17:42 -0500, Matt Colie
wrote:

I am not saying that the young man involved might have done better, but
I think the group should know what the situation is really like.

I am never without a knife (except on an airplane recently), and have
had one all my life. It is an essential working tool for a waterman.

I have both a multi-tool and a rigging knife.

This thread got me to thinking about tethers.

I remember Practical Sailor testing both knives and tethers by
recording how quickly a tether could slashed.

Also, I believe that when one of tall ships went down a crew member
could not get free of his tether and was dragged down.

Since then, snap shackles seem to be the favoured attachment method at
the harness.

Does anyone have any experience with or knowledge of the efficacy of
the snap shackles? Can they be released under load?

From my own experience I will only use Gibb or Wichard clips for
attaching to u bolts or jacklines. I had a tether come off while I
was on a foredeck at night. It managed to attach itself to the jib
sheet.

Jack

__________________________________________________
Jack Dale
Swiftsure Sailing Academy
Director/ISPA and CYA Instructor
http://www.swiftsuresailing.com
Phone: 1 (877) 470-SAIL (toll free)
__________________________________________________